111 Petty Quotes About Being Small-Minded

Pettiness is a small thing that has a tremendous negative impact.

When you or the people around you act in a petty way, it’s guaranteed to slowly drag everyone down. Being petty and acting small-minded can feel good sometimes. But acting petty is a trap you don’t want to fall into.

In this piece, we’ve put together some petty quotes to give you more insight into the more mean-spirited side all humans are capable of. Understanding more about pettiness will help you notice it in yourself and in your friends, community, and family.

Before we make our way to the quotes, let’s touch on all things petty. Bringing some context to pettiness will help understand its underhanded impact.

Why Read Petty Quotes

The word petty goes back centuries, and it originates from the French word petit, which translates to mean small, trivial, or not serious.

When you or someone you know acts in a petty way, it’s because you’re focusing on things that don’t matter in the long run. Someone can act petty due to a habit of passive aggressiveness. Pettiness can also be a trick from your ego to make you think you’re in control of a situation or to bolster itself because of a setback.

While it can be hard to admit, we’ve all had experiences of being tough on someone because of a stressful day at school or work. We’re all human, and everyone is susceptible to being irritated, frustrated, or annoyed.

Pettiness becomes a problem when it starts to make a long-term appearance in your behavior. Holding grudges over small things, constantly expecting perfection, over-correcting of faults, and generally focusing on trivial details at the expense of the big picture are all symptoms of chronic petty behavior.

Pettiness over time leads to a narrow mind and an inability to look at things from another perspective. It can tear your relationships apart, and it can negatively affect your physical and mental health.

Pettiness can be sneaky and manifest itself in many ways, and the ones listed above are just a small sample. If you want to minimize the negative effect of pettiness, the best way is to understand it, either from your behavior or from those around you.

Our petty quotes will give you the leg up you need to facilitate this process. Once you recognize it in your life, you’ll naturally become increasingly broad-minded. Being able to consider other points of view, take a step back and pause is the hallmark of maturity, and it’s the beginning of wisdom.

111 Petty Quotes About Being Small-Minded

1. “A mind set in its ways is wasted. Don't do it.”– Eric Schmidt
2.  “Where can I find a man who has forgotten words so I can have a word with him?” – Zhuangzi
3. “Giving an insignificant thing your attention is a form of self-disrespect.” – Mokokoma Mokhonoana
4. “Self righteousness belongs to narrow-minded.” – Toba Beta
5. “Small minds are concerned with the extraordinary, great minds with the ordinary.” – Blaise Pascal

Small minds are concerned with the extraordinary, great minds with the ordinary.” – Blaise Pascal

6. “He'd rather wish for his neighbour's cow to die than have his own cow brought back to life.” – Juliet Butler
7. “One’s opinion should only be as strong as one’s knowledge on the matter.” – Eric Hirzel
8.  “Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.” – George Carlin
9. “The petty man wants to use God for himself; the ambitious man wants God to use him for God.” – Criss Jami
10. “A narrow mind and a fat head invariably come on the same person.” – Zig Ziglar
11.  “Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
12. “Intelligence arouses fear and respect, the lack of it keeps one on the narrow minded road of disrespect, stupidity and inferiority complex.” – Michael Bassey Johnson
13. “Don't let the pettiness of life prevent you from enjoying God's plenty.” – Bernard Kelvin Clive
14. “The ego is what drives a self-serving individual who hates to admit they are wrong.” – Suzy Kassem
15. “Who among us has the strength to oppose petty egoism, those petty good feelings, pity, and remorse?” – Ivan Turgenev

16. “My life is full of drama, and I don't have time to worry about something as petty as what I look like.” – Adele
17. “Don’t be unwilling to take those little steps; in them are residing great journeys. Move on.” – Israelmore Ayivor
18. “Wagging tongues from prejudiced, sophisticated facade of show-off people can never blemish any honest, genuine, golden heart.” – Angelica Hopes
19. “Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.” – Thomas Paine
20. “I don't want to be a politician. I don't like politics. It's petty; it fights dirty.” – John Mellencamp
21. “The world perishes not from bandits and fires, but from hatred, hostility, and all these petty squabbles.” – Anton Chekhov
22. “The irony is that while our world might plead for change, it does its best to suppress it.” – Hiba Fatima Ahmad
23. “Great wisdom is generous; petty wisdom is contentious. Great speech is impassioned, small speech cantankerous.” – Zhuangzi
24. “So many it seems, have made it their life's goal to bask in the ignorance of their certainty.” – John Chaplin
25. “Our thoughts are broadcasts of the soul, not secrets of the brain. Kind ones bring us happiness; petty ones, untold pain.” – Ritu Ghatourey
26. “The man of petty ambition if invited to dinner will be eager to be set next his host.” – Theophrastus
27. “A superior person knows what is moral; a petty person only knows what is profitable.” – Chinese Proverb
28. “A petty person often misses out on what is pretty in life.”– Gift Gugu Mona
29. “Kids think with their brains cracked wide open; becoming an adult, I've decided, is only a slow sewing shut.” – Jodi Picoult
30. “Don't worry about petty things.” – Richie Norton

31. “A mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work if it is not open.” – Frank Zappa
32. “Petty laws breed great crimes.” – Ouida
33. “Life is too short for drama and petty things, so kiss slowly, laugh insanely, love truly, and forgive quickly” -.Susan Chapman Melanson
34. “People who make up their minds about something never listen to advice – especially when it's to the contrary.” – Steven Erikson
35. “The art of giving orders is not to try to rectify the minor blunders and not to be swayed by petty doubts.” – Sun Tzu
36. “We should not have a petty regard for God's gifts, though we may and should despise our own imperfections.” – Saint Ignatius
37. “I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
38. “Never make someone a priority when all you are to them is an option.” – Maya Angelou
39. “Your priorities aren’t what you say they are. They are revealed by how you live.”-Anonymous
40. “It is not true that suffering ennobles the character; happiness does that sometimes, but suffering, for the most part, makes men petty and vindictive.” – W. Somerset Maugham

It is not true that suffering ennobles the character; happiness does that sometimes, but suffering, for the most part, makes men petty and vindictive.” – W. Somerset Maugham

41. “Whether the gentleman is capable or not, he is loved all the same; conversely the petty man is loathed all the same.” -Xun Kuang
42. “An open mind is like an open window. It lets the fresh air in.” – Mike Hernacki
43. “Man has gone out to explore other worlds and other civilizations without having explored his own labyrinth of dark passages and secret chambers, and without finding what lies behind doorways that he himself has sealed.” – Stanisław Lem
44. “When we are unhurried and unwise, we perceive that only great and worthy things have any permanent and absolute existence,— that petty fears and petty pleasures are but the shadow of the reality.” – Walden
45. “Everything is possible; we just need to be hopeful and think of the world from a human perspective. The world is so small compared to the universe, so we shouldn’t fight for petty things.” – Manal al-Sharif
46. “Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” – George Bernard Shaw
47. “If the folks sometimes observe the vastness of the universe their narrowmindedness dies.” – Lord Robin
48. “Revenge is always the delight of a little weak and petty mind” – Juvenal
49. “Men are separated by so many petty things.” – Aaron Huey
50. “I don't need other people to have an open mind for me to be happy. I'm the only one who needs an open mind.” – Byron Katie
51. “When politicians don black robes and seize powers they do not have, they should be called out for what they are – usurpers and petty tyrants.” – Pat Buchanan
52. “One will seldom go wrong if one attributes extreme actions to vanity, average ones to habit, and petty ones to fear.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
53. “We are regressing from narrow-mindedness to nano-mindedness” – Amit Abraham
54. “Your life will be a blessed and balanced experience if you first honor your identity and priority.” -Russell M. Nelson
55. “You don't have to knock anyone off their game to win yours. It doesn't build you up to tear others down.” – Mandy Hale
56. “Feeling petty and frustrated can have reverberating consequences for your ability to think strategically and reach your goals.” – Robert Greene

57. “People throughout time have grieved, have fallen in love, have fallen out of love. We are sometimes petty and sometimes heroic, and we have been that way forever.” – Monica Hesse
58. “If you want the truth to stand clear before you, never be for or against. The struggle between ‘for' and ‘against' is the mind's worst disease.” – Jianzhi Sengchan.
59. “Empowered manifestors are masters of their own mind. They are not slaves to self-limiting beliefs, nor servants to small-minded views of the world.” – Anthon St. Maarten
60. “Remember, always give your best. Never get discouraged. Never be petty. Always remember, others may hate you. But those who hate you don’t win unless you hate them. And then you destroy yourself.” – Richard M. Nixon
61. “Open your mind before your mouth.” – Aristophanes
62. “People who prefer to believe the worst of others will breed war and religious persecutions while the world lasts.” – Dorothy L. Sayers
63. “Often in life, we forget the things we should remember, and remember the things we should forget.” – Anonymous
64. “Class is considerate of others. It knows that good manners is nothing more than a series of petty sacrifices.” – Ann Landers
65. “They are ill discoverers that think there is no land when they can see nothing but sea.” – Francis Bacon
66. “Sometimes painfully lost people can teach us lessons that we didn't think we needed to know, or be reminded of—the more history changes, the more it stays the same.” – Shannon L. Alder
67. “The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.” – Albert Einstein
68. “It is never too late to give up your prejudices.” – Henry David Thoreau
69. “Narrow-mindedness will only get you as far as Nowhere, and once you're there, you're lost forever.” – Tahereh Mafi
70. “Life is short. Focus on what really matters most; you should change your priorities over time.” – Roy T. Bennett
71. “The less people know, the more stubbornly they know it.” – Rajneesh

72. “Your days are numbered. Use them to throw open the windows of your soul to the sun. If you do not, the sun will soon set, and you with it.” – Marcus Aurelius
73. “Change comes from confrontation. You have to be confronted or confront yourself.” – Bryant Mcgill
74. “It's the most unhappy people who most fear change.” – Mignon McLaughlin
75. “Never let somebody’s drama determine the outcome of your day.” -Terry Mark
76. “An open mind is better than a clenched fist.” – Matshona Dhliwayo
77. “It’s easy to just be rude or just be nasty. I think it’s actually harder for people to say something positive; it’s interesting.” – Karrueche Tran
78. “Respond intelligently even to unintelligent treatment.” – Lao Tzu
79. “Do not be threatened by rude people, because rudeness is a sign of insecurity.” – Gift Gugu Mona
80. “A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person.” – Dave Barry
81. “If they do it often, it isn’t a mistake; it’s just their behavior.” – Dr. Steve Maraboli
82. “Petty laws breed great crimes.” – Ouida
83. “We should not have a petty regard for God's gifts, though we may and should despise our own imperfections.” – Saint Ignatius
84. “The lion does not turn around when a small dog barks.” – African proverb
85. “The demands that a great man makes are on himself; those of a petty man are upon others.” – Confucius
86. “Nothing about character is hereditary. Everyone, regardless of social background, financial status, race, or sex, enters the world with an equal opportunity to become a person of great or petty character.” – Micheal Josephson
87. “Anna, you have not yet seen pettiness. When a couple of tough guys like the general and Lugala Tsu decide to confront each other, vistas of pettiness open up that you and I can barely comprehend.” – Eleanor Arnason
88. “Being petty is like a muscle – the more you use it, the stronger it gets.” – Unknown
89. “To err is human, to forgive divine.” – Alexander Pope
90. “Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.” – Oscar Wilde
91. “It’s not about who’s right or wrong, it’s about what’s important to you and your happiness.” – Tony Robbins

It’s not about who’s right or wrong, it’s about what’s important to you and your happiness.” – Tony Robbins

92. “There are two ways to look at life – as something that happens TO you or something that happens FOR you. I choose the latter.” – Louise Hay
93. “Never underestimate the human capacity for stupid, illogical, and petty behaviour.” – Raymond E. Feist
94. “Keep this thought handy when you feel a fit of rage coming on – it isn't manly to be enraged. Rather, gentleness and civility are more human, and therefore manlier. A real man doesn't give way to anger and discontent, and such a person has strength, courage, and endurance – unlike the angry and complaining. – Marcus Aurelius
95. “I do not like to call myself a Liberal, because there is so much that is wrong with liberalism. I also do not like to call myself a Conservative for exactly the same reason. The fact that the theater of conservativism today seems to be such a haven for such an abundance of small-minded, non-thinking, irrationalists is however making it very difficult for me to not adopt a harder stance.” – Derek R. Audette
96. “The small perplexities of small minds eddy and boil about you. Confident from the experience that has led you out of these same dangers, you attack each problem as it appears, unafraid.” – Alice Foote MacDougall
97. “Little people need to belittle.” – Wayne Gerard Trotman
98. “Consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds.” – Terence McKenna
99. “Social conditioning, accompanied by moral and mental constraints, now serve to render the mediocre mind nearly incapable of unbiased assessment.” – Justin K. McFarlane Beau
100. “The nearer a man comes to a calm mind, the closer he is to strength.” – Marcus Aurelius
101. “Foolish consistencies are the hobgoblins of small minds!” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

102. “Do not be small minded. Do not pray for gourds and pumpkins from God, when you should be asking for pure love and pure knowledge to dawn within every heart.” – Ramakrishna
103. “Bigheadedness is usually a symptom of small-mindedness.” – Mokokoma Mokhonoana
104. “The best revenge is not to be like your enemy.” – Marcus Aurelius
105. “The small-minded has no time to read summary.” – Toba Beta
106. “In the long run, every man will pay the penalty for his own misdeeds.” – Epictetus
107. “How do we get out of our small mind? When we enquire into the core of our existence. What is life? Who am I? This spirit of self-inquiry can awaken something inside you.” – Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
108. “Small things affects small minds.” – Benjamin Disraeli
109. “Small minds just like light winds can never create giant waves.” – Mehmet Murat Ildan
110. “Money is not the root of all evil. Poverty of the mind is.” – John Joclebs Bassey
111. “Small minds are subdued by misfortunes, greater minds overcome them.” – Washington Irving

Final Thoughts on Petty Quotes

That brings us to the end of our collection of petty quotes. We hope that reading through these can help you understand more about this shady side of the human spectrum. If you’re on the receiving end of abuse from petty, small-minded people, then these words might offer you a little encouragement.

Check out these 125 mirror affirmations that will boost your confidence, as growing your confidence will help you confront the petty behavior in your life.

And if you want more eye-opening quotes, be sure to check out these blog posts:

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Finally, if you want to use these quotes to make a lasting change to your life, then check out and recite these 57 affirmations for success.